YES...my AA bf, Mr GQ himself (in my eyes of course...LOL) asks me tons of questions about my hair regularly. He will compliment the heck out of it when I roller set it and wear it curled - and although he likes it straight too - he will make comments about how 'thin' it is, or how 'flat' it looks!!

Anyhow, I had gone natural about 3yrs ago, and LOVED IT! But then I missed my straight hair (typical chick - ain't never satisfied). My hair is baby fine, so even a mild relaxer makes it THIN, but bone straight. I've been rockin the straight relaxed hair for about 2yrs now but am considering going back to naturally curly.

Here's my dilemma: I have about 2inches of newgrowth now. I promised my bf that after we get married (Sept 0 I'll grow it out to curly again...but that is darn near 10 mos away!!!! My hair is at that point where I need to make a decision whether to just relax and continue doing so for the next 10 mos, or, let it grow out and start chopping. I really want LONG hair for my wedding (and it's past my shoulders 'straight' at this point). Would it makes SENSE to grow it out now, not do the big chop, and just keep the curly hair 'straight' (flat iron, not relax - just so the textures match) for 10 mos till I get married? Would that even be healthy for my hair?

I had the same problem with my hair. I decided to go natural some months before my wedding and then decided b/c of the wedding and length I wanted I'd keep getting it relaxed. I'm glad that I kept it relaxed b/c of the length. My hair was broken off at my wedding b/c I went a couple of months w/o a relaxer before I decided to go back to the relaxer. I also had my hair colored (which didn't help). Had I known what I know now, I would have kept relaxing it w/o stopping for the couple months. I got a relaxer at the beginning of the month of my wedding and I knew that would be my last.
I tend to ramble on but I hope this helps.

I had the same problem with my hair. I decided to go natural some months before my wedding and then decided b/c of the wedding and length I wanted I'd keep getting it relaxed. I'm glad that I kept it relaxed b/c of the length. My hair was broken off at my wedding b/c I went a couple of months w/o a relaxer before I decided to go back to the relaxer. I also had my hair colored (which didn't help). Had I known what I know now, I would have kept relaxing it w/o stopping for the couple months. I got a relaxer at the beginning of the month of my wedding and I knew that would be my last.
I tend to ramble on but I hope this helps.

Originally Posted by jcurlady

THAT is what I'm afraid of...it breaking off, and then having much hair to work with come my wedding. OR, it just looking a hot MESS - neither is an option for me - LOL!!!

That's what changed my mind about going natural. The thing is you can always go natural but you can't get ur length back. And sometimes if you go natural you have to keep your texture the same as the relaxed hair to stop the breakage. Even that's no guarantee. You can't tell from my pics that my hair was broken off but it was. I've just got enough hair to hide it (that's not so much the case now). I just hope that this helps you in making the best decision for you situation.

Your story sounds like me a few years ago. I wanted to go natural as I had two-three inches of growth so I did and made sure that both textures were straightened by blow-drying or flat ironing. Anyhow, I bought the most expensive, chi's, herstyler's, 100% porcelain flat irons you can think of and my hair just kept getting worst each day. After chopping my ends I decided to give my hair a little break, that is when I started to see some good results. Eventually I chopped the last of my relaxed ends and now I am all natural. The only problem now is that my hair is not growing as fast as it used to when it was processed but I have faith that someday it will be as long as I want it to, I just have to take care of it as if it were my baby. Still following some nice suggestions from the Curlmunity here and hopefully they are good enough to reach the long lengthy curls I used to have years ago. It's sometimes frustrating but the easy way (stressing the processed hair with excessive heats from blower or irons) will lead to painfull results at the end.

Try going natural and if by the time your wedding date comes around you don't like it you could always get it flat ironed OR you could *gulp* get a relaxer done. I know how special a wedding day is so I would want perfect wedding pictures. You have 10 months to go and in those ten months alot can happen. Would you consider a weave? A wig? If not, I can tell you right now that while transitioning I'd get my hair blowdried straight and nobody could tell I was going natural. Right now I'm 100% natural and when I rollerset and flatiron again nobody knows I don't have a relaxer on my head.

There are alot of options out there for you. If you can find a salon that'll work with you I'm telling you they can work wonders. Don't cut it all off yet.

I got married a little over a year ago and I'm so grateful that my hair was relaxed. Speaking from a person that has transitioned five times, there is plenty of time for you to go natural. If you take a look at my foki, I have a "big chop" pic that I like more than the current length of my hair right now. I would've rocked this look to the fullest down the aisle if I had been transitioning at the time of my wedding. That was about an inch of new growth.